This publisher has requested my full manuscript to read after having looked at the 1st 35 pages.

http://reckhousepress.com/

If anyone here is familiar with the publisher, I'd like to hear your thoughts. It doesn't seem like they have a large book list, and I cannot find their books on amazon. That doesn't mean they're not there, only that I did not find the ones I searched for.

Seems a dearth of info on them out there.

I'm not able to find any titles of theirs on Amazon, BN or anything in TBM Bookmanager.

Nada

By contrast, Virtual Tales (By no means a titan of publishing) shows up in all three places.

Anything with an ISBN will show up on Amazon. Either their books don't have ISBNs or they haven't taken the ten minutes it takes to input the data into Amazon.

Also their reviews are a single paragraphs signed by people like "M.N. Chicago, IL"

Way too many red flags.

No advance. No distribution.

Not much of a service, eh?

Yesterday she sent an email saying that they are still interested. She asked for a modified manuscript before she could commit to a contract. The critique is a good one. She identified a major problem in the manuscript which should be addressed.

It's too long and has too much detail in what she calls the wrap-up following the climax. The problem exists because I saw the climax as being later in the story than where she sees it, and having had the manuscript gathering dust for a few months, I see it differently now.

Whether I publish with her or not, I am taking her editorial criticism as good advice.

There is still no amazon presence for their books, but they do have ISBNs.

Here is what she said about her company:

"Reck House Press is a tiny publisher with very limited resources. Our design and editorial work are done to the highest standards, but our initial promotion and sales necessarily rely on the web and targeted e-mails rather than bookstores. Once a portion of our costs has been recovered, we place the book in selected independent bookstores. Big-box bookstore sales, because they can absorb more than half a publisher's potential profits, are unaffordable until a book is in wide demand."

If sales rely on the web, are the books available from all the major online bookstores: Amazon, B & N, Borders, etc.?

If the books are only available on their site, then the sales are extremely low or the main customers are the authors themselves. Chris loathes PA and thinks that they should be more upfront about who they target to buy the books they publish. I would say that the website for this "small press" is not totally upfront about how sales are generated.

Also, the publisher offers editorial services; I would be very surprised if her editorial services are not part of the publishing package she is offering -- although there is no mention of this on the site.

Don't give your work away too quickly...get all your questions answered. Note they are looking for cost recovery up front. That's more like a vanity press....\

That does not mean they are not quality. We have a vanity press locally, Berringer Press, that requires a financial contribution up front; but their work is exceptional. Just depends on your goals.

If you have the time, you may want to look some more. Personally, I'm curious how you make sufficient sales to offset costs when they are waiting for those sales to widely distribute the book.

The publisher sent a contract. It was completely unacceptable. I declined.

I am now under contract for the work with another publisher. Not sure where to make that announcement.

I hope the new contract works out well! Keep us informed!

The new publisher is Musa Publishing. They have an interesting business model, which aligns with how I think things will be going. They publish e-books first and print editions later.

http://www.musapublishing.com/